The Self-Publishing Paradox

If you really want to make slathers of cash being a writer, write books about how to be a writer.  Do you think I’m joking?

I got an e-mail yesterday from Amazon about a book called APE, which I never heard of. I found out that the book was written by a man named Guy Kawasaki and is a big seller on Amazon.  APE is all about self-publishing.

It always amazes me that the people who write about writing make scads of money while other writers, especially those who write fiction, go begging.

Paradoxically, there seems to be an insatiable appetite among the reading public for books about how to self-publish, but a dearth of appetite for books that are self-published.

As I write this blog on February 26, 2013, APE has accumulated over three hundred five-star reviews on Amazon.  The first review (which is also five stars) is written by Chanticleer Book Reviews.  I thought Amazon had a company policy about not publishing reviews that are paid for.  According to its Web site, Chanticleer Book Reviews charges fees for its reviews.

I’m not knocking APE.  I haven’t read it.  I’m not reviewing it.  There are thousands of these types of self-help books about self-publishing on the market.  I’m sure some of them are better than others for what they provide.  I’m only noting that if you want to write for money, and the greed in you is stronger than your creative drive, you would be better advised to write and self-publish a book about self-publishing rather than to write and self-publish a work of fiction.

That said, Samuel Johnson once famously remarked, “No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money.”